1998-99 NHL season
The 1998-99 NHL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Twenty-seven teams played 82 games each. The season lasted from October 9, 1998 to June 19, 1999. The Dallas Stars finished first in regular season play, and won the Stanley Cup Championship over the Buffalo Sabres in a controversial fashion on a disputed overtime goal by Brett Hull. League Business With the addition of the expansion Nashville Predators, the NHL realigned this year to a strictly geographic six-division structure (three per conference), erasing the last vestiges of the traditional four-division structure (Adams/Patrick/Norris/Smythe) abandoned in 1993-94; other than the necessary reassignment of Colorado in 1995 due to its two-thousand mile (over 3,200 km) east-west move from Quebec, the divisions' membership had remained static for six years despite the renaming and the moves of several other franchises. As part of this realignment, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference. The 1998-99 season marked the retirement of Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, who played his final three NHL seasons with the New York Rangers. The Rangers had been battling for a playoff spot up until the end of the regular season when they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins who were able to clinch the postseason berth when Jaromir Jagr scored the winning goal. The game was also symbolic because it appeared as though Gretzky was passing the torch to Jagr, signalling a changing of the guard of the NHL's greatest superstar. This was the final season Fox televised NHL games in the United States. It was also the final season for the Carolina Hurricanes at the Greensboro Coliseum, before moving their home games to the RBC Center for the following season. The Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy for the most goals by a player in a season made its debut this year. The first winner was Teemu Selanne of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Regular season This was the final season that Fox televised NHL games in the United States. It was also the final season for the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens before moving to the Air Canada Centre in February. Toronto also made its first post-season appearance since 1995–96 this season. The 1998–99 season was also the final year that the Carolina Hurricanes played at Greensboro Coliseum; they moved to the brand-new Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh for the next season. The Colorado Avalanche played their fourth and final season at McNichols Sports Arena and would move to Pepsi Center the following season. The Los Angeles Kings played their final season at the Great Western Forum after 32 seasons before moving to the Staples Center for the next season. Because Great Western Bank ceased to exist two seasons prior, the arena name was replaced by the team name on center ice, in anticipation of the move. In an effort to reduce the number of disallowed goals due to the skate-in-the-crease violation, the goal crease size was significantly reduced. In spite of this, goaltenders and defensive systems continued to dominate the league, as only two teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils, averaged more than three goals scored per game. In addition, no player reached the 50-goal plateau A total of 160 shutouts were recorded for the second-straight regular season. Final standings Eastern Conference Western Conference Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Leading goaltenders Postseason Playoff bracket Eastern Conference Quarterfinals | valign="top" | |- | valign="top" | | valign="top" | |} Western Conference Quarterfinals | valign="top" | |- | valign="top" | | valign="top" | |} Eastern Conference Semifinals | valign="top" | |} Western Conference Semifinals | valign="top" | |} Eastern Conference Final |} Western Conference Final |} Finals NHL awards All-Star teams Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1998-99 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): *Martin St. Louis, Calgary Flames *Jean-Pierre Dumont, Chicago Blackhawks *Chris Drury, Colorado Avalanche *Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche *Tom Poti, Edmonton Oilers *Dan Boyle, Florida Panthers *Jason Blake, Los Angeles Kings *David Legwand, Nashville Predators *Karlis Skrastins, Nashville Predators *Kimmo Timonen, Nashville Predators *John Madden, New Jersey Devils *Eric Brewer, New York Islanders *Sami Salo, Ottawa Senators *Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning *Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1998-99 (listed with their last team): *Tomas Sandstrom, Anaheim Mighty Ducks *Randy Cunneyworth, Buffalo Sabres *Steve Chiasson, Carolina Hurricanes *Dale Hunter, Colorado Avalanche *Craig Ludwig, Dallas Stars *Jamie Macoun, Detroit Red Wings *Petr Klima, Detroit Red Wings *Dino Ciccarelli, Florida Panthers *Russ Courtnall, Los Angeles Kings *Dave Babych, Los Angeles Kings *Bob Carpenter, New Jersey Devils *Craig Janney, New York Islanders *Esa Tikkanen, New York Rangers *Wayne Gretzky, New York Rangers *Ron Hextall, Philadelphia Flyers *Bernie Nicholls, San Jose Sharks *Jim Carey, St. Louis Blues *Peter Zezel, Vancouver Canucks *Dave Gagner, Vancouver Canucks *Brian Bellows, Washington Capitals *Kelly Miller, Washington Capitals *Michal Pivonka, Washington Capitals See also * List of Stanley Cup champions * 1998 NHL Entry Draft * 1998 NHL Expansion Draft * 49th National Hockey League All-Star Game * National Hockey League All-Star Game References *Hockey Database *http://nhl.com/ |} Category:NHL seasons